24 questions: Get to know every Ryder Cup player

By Mike Lopresti | Rydercup.com
On Sep 26, 2018, 2:10pm EDT

PARIS — Trivia test time at Le Golf National, with the theme of Get to Know Your 2018 Ryder Cup teams. This isn’t just two dozen professionals with no handicap, or platoons of young men in coordinated outfits. These are guys with many dimensions, and quirks in their stories.

That’d be Bryson DeChambeau, who took his grasp of science and decided it’d be a good idea to have all his irons the exact same length – 37.5 inches. He can also sign his autograph backward, with his left hand. Possibly a Ryder Cup first.

2) Who missed his first 21 cuts after turning professional?

Justin Rose. You might have noticed that things have gotten a little better after that. He just won the $10 million FedExCup.

3) Who once beat NBA player Shane Battier in a 3-point shooting contest?

Dustin Johnson. Unfortunately for the Americans, if they need a late rally Sunday, there is no 3-point arc at the Ryder Cup.

4) Who, displeased with the performance of his 3-iron, once hurled the club into a pond during the WGC Cadillac Championship, only to have the course’s big honcho send out a scuba diver to retrieve it the next day?

Rory McIlroy. The guy who hired the scuba diver might ring a bell. Donald Trump. A lot of water this week at Le Golf National, by the way. But no Trump.

5) Who is the only player here the same age as his team captain?

Phil Mickelson, born 48 years ago in June of 1970. Jim Furyk beat him into the world by 35 days.

6) Who participated in the torch relay before the 2006 Winter Olympics?

Francesco Molinari. The Games were in Torino, Italy. When someone said of Italian golf that the torch was being passed to Molinari, they weren’t kidding.

7) Who won his first PGA Tour victory with his wife as his caddie?

Patrick Reed. There they were, holding the trophy together after the 2013 Wyndham Championship. But she was on the other side of the gallery rope last April in Augusta.

Justin Thomas. When attending the Kentucky Derby, Jordan played golf on the Louisville course where Thomas’ father was the pro. There were usually a few dollars at stake, of course. Thomas caddied for him, but one day, Jordan asked him to be his teammate. They won, the superstar and his teenage ringer.

20) Who owns his own soccer club?

Sergio Garcia. Call up the website of CF Borriol, and there’s a greeting from the team president.

21) Who missed his high school graduation to play in the Bryon Nelson Classic?

Jordan Spieth. He finished tied for 32nd, which was a lot of pomp and circumstance for a 17-year-old amateur.

22) Who once paid the bills as assistant pro, teaching kids for one pound a lesson?

Ian Poulter. This was before he turned into the prince of darkness for the U.S. in Ryder Cups.

23) Who is the only competitor here this week named after a defensive end who played in the Super Bowl?

Bubba Watson, as in Bubba Smith. If his dad didn’t like football, he’d be here as Gerry Watson.

24) Whose golf career started in a garage?

Tyrrell Hatton. Jeff Hatton, realizing his young son’s potential, left the business world and started a golf shop in a garage. It was there that he first began refining Tyrrell’s swing.

One bonus question. How do you say four pounds in French this week? La Ryder Cup.